Scotland

A Cockatrice was supposedly killed here when the peat in which it was hiding were set on fire. It had, according to local tradition been found whilst still in its egg. A woman had got her hen to sit on the egg until it hatched. Unfortunately when it hatched it ate the hen's chicks then ran off. Read More »

The worm here was white in colour and this legend may have inspired Bram Stoker’s novel ‘Lair of the White Worm’. It wound itself around Mote Hill and got up to the usual tricks. A local blacksmith made a suit of armour covered with retractable spikes. Read More »

Bob Taylor's encounter with the mysterious spheres in Dechmont wood near Livingston in Scotland, is probably one of the most written about cases of a close encounter in Britain. The case stands as one of the most intriging in British Ufology. Read More »

Only the cellars remain of the original 14th century castle in which Mary Queen of Scots stayed in 1563. The mansion, which now stands on the site, was built in the 1700s for William Douglas, the first Duke of Queensberry. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at the castle in 1745, after his unsuccessful invasion of England. Read More »

The Premonstratensian Dryburgh Abbey was founded in 1150 by Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale. Now a ruin it rests within the grounds of the baronial Dryburgh Abbey Hose Hotel. The hotel itself is said to have been built on the location of an earlier house from which the haunting may have originated. Read More »

Confronted by a ghost: The other night (a correspondent of the Daily News writes) A young man had an extraordinary experience near Lockerbie. The Dryfe Bridge beside which is the old cemetery---has long been notorious as a haunt of ghosts. Having to cross the bridge going from the town the young man happened to glance to the right and saw a tall and white ghostly figure. Read More »

This ruined dun is said to have been the home of a giant called Cuithach, who in the tradition of most giants, laid waste to the surrounding area by stealing cattle and killing local people. Read More »

The ancient king seat of Dunadd - capital of the kingdom of Dalraidia (Dal Riata) - rises out of the barren flatness of Crinan Moss, the raised bog floodplain of the meandering River Add. This rocky outcrop was the power base of the Scotti tribe, who invaded from Ireland around the 5th century AD. Read More »

The church may occupy a site on which a stone circle once stood, some of the stones can still be seen incorporated into the fabric of the church. In other stories the stones came from a circle on the other side of Dunino Den. It was quite common for churches to be built on much older pagan sites.
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This is the site of the Battle of Nechtansmere found between the Picts and the invading Northumbrians of King Ecgfrith. The battle took place at 3.00pm on 2 March 685AD. The Picts had been subjugated under Drust, a puppet King supported by King Oswui of Northumberland. When Oswui died in 672AD the Picts (called Picti ‘painted ones' by the Romans) overthrew Drust. Read More »

The castle is interesting because of its associated haunting, and it also houses a museum within its grounds containing many enigmatic picture stones. These stones, found all over Eastern Scotland are Pictish in origin, and nobody has successfully explained the strange symbols and pictures which decorate their surface.

Duntulm Castle is now a ruined shell of its former glory as a MacDonald stronghold, its walls disintegrating year by year against the constant onslaught of the Atlantic winds. The site traditionally has a long precedence as a defendable stronghold: there may have been an Iron Age, and a Viking presence here, situated on the rocky promontory of steep cliffs overlooking the sea. Read More »

Once a Kennedy stronghold, this castle is now a crumbling ruin eroding steadily into the sea with every passing Ayrshire winter. In 1570 it was the scene for the legendary roasting of the abbot of Crossraguel. Read More »

The Each Uisge, is a name for the Highland supernatural water horse, supposedly the most dangerous of the Scottish water dwelling creatures. The monster inhabited the sea, sea lochs and fresh water lochs and is sometimes mistaken in writing as the Kelpie, which is supposed to inhabit rivers and streams. Read More »

A mythical creature that may be confined to one area of Banffshire in Scotland, according to Walter Grigor in his ‘Notes on the folklore of NE Scotland’ published in 1881, the Yird Swine were a “dreaded ..animal” that lived in graveyards and burrowed through the earth feeding on the dead bodies. Read More »

This is one of the most southerly broch survivals, which are more typically associated with Northern Scotland. Broch’s were multi floored defensive structures with room for cattle in the lower enclosure and accommodation on the upper floors accessed by passageways in the thick walls. Read More »

Eildon Hill is a triple peak that dominates the landscape around Melrose in Southern Scotland. The hillfort was occupied in pre-historic times, was used as a signal station by the Romans, and was re-occupied during the Romano-British period. It is associated with the legendary wizard Michael Scot, and the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer. Read More »

Situated in Loch Druich, the castle as it stands now is the result of a 20 year restoration and reconstruction project undertaken by Lt.Col. John MacRae-Gilstrap when he purchased the ruin and the island it sits upon, in 1919. Read More »

In Danish folk belief every Elder Tree is inhabited and protected by a female spirit known as the Hyldemoer, and is revered as a sacred tree. This tradition may have some parallels in Britain, as I heard a similar folk belief when I was growing up in England. I was told that the tree was guarded by a female spirit and it was unlucky to bring the wood into the house. Read More »

Corrie Water is a stream running seven miles from Eskdalemuir to the Water of Milk near Lockerbie. The stream runs through Corrie, an ancient parish annexed to Hutton in 1609. It is here, according to a story by George Douglas in his Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales (1901) that fairies lived. Read More »

Featured Site

Wayland's Smithy is one of the most impressive and atmospheric Neolithic burial chambers in Britain. Somehow this ancient grave became associated with Wayland, the Saxon god of metalworking, from whom it takes its name.